It is interesting to see other thoughts on this topic, as we are struggling with this in our neighbourhood. Started a new neighborhood about 2-3 months ago & it is fairly small, and we are connected to most other players in RL. There are two we do not know personally. Our rule is simple--do the derby or opt out (to keep it fair for those who wish to be competitive). We are quick to help neighbours as needed & when asked. One of the two players participates, and has stepped up his play--as requested. He's a keeper. Acknowledges chat, etc. The other, well we fully expect to be kicking them out before the end of this derby. This player does not opt out, selects tasks & asks for full help, but then lets the task time out or trashes their own task. It is rare that they complete a task, just benefit from the work of others. This player does not respond to requests/chat, unless it involves help they require. We know the playing routines of the others in our neighborhood, and know they will complete tasks on the days they are less busy. We have been trying to give the benefit of the doubt for several weeks & have been watching more closely to see if we can identify the problem. We have. It is the player. Bye bye.

I guess every neighborhood has to figure it out for themselves. It would be great to have a general message board for the neighborhood that all members "sign off" on, so to speak, to ensure everyone knows the "rules" of the 'hood.

Several weeks is way longer than we would tolerate that in our hood. It's opt in and complete tasks, or opt out. New members get no slack in the first few derbies....all completed as agreed or you are removed. Long term members are a different story, but no one gets several weeks of screwing up the derby for the hood. That's just unfair.

Establish your rules then....

Be sure to let any new player that you accept know exactly what the group wants in terms of player participation. If you clearly spell out your rules, give them a chance to ask questions if they are unclear, you have done your part. There are plenty of neighborhoods that are not interested in placing in Derby. If you are serious about winning, have explained the nh rules then it is up to the new member to play that way or leave. If they don't follow your rules and are not polite enough to leave on their own - Kick Them Out. Don't try to keep a member in your hood that does not want to follow the rules established before they joined you. That makes for a stressful game and unhappy members! I am not sure why anyone would want a player on their team that is disrespectful. Yes this is a game but I have never played a game that did not have at least a few rules.

I'm rather annoyed. Joined a new neighborhood last week to be competitive on the derby. There were no derby rules posted anywhere. I spent the week doing huge 300 point tasks. Logging in multiple times a day. Chatting with neighbors. Helping others finish tasks etc. I completed 8 300 point plus tasks. My ninth ran out of time in my town before completing. Log in today to see if we finished 1st or 2nd as we'd gone back and forth only to find I was kicked out. All of that time and work and I'm booted for no reason and get no rewards for the derby that I heavily helped the neighborhood get. I'm a little ♥♥♥♥♥♥ about it. Not to mention I was booted by a user who's name I never saw active once all week. At least let me get the rewards and ask me to leave or boot me after a day. An instant boot is just rude when someone helped so much not only with their own derby but helping others finish their own tasks. Just had to vent it took me off guard. I guess I'll look for a neighborhood that is competitive and also respects it's players.

it happen to me recently...yes, they should boot us after derby end so we get the rewards and then ask to leave.
it win-win situation...

What is your nh rule on people in derby who do not finish tasks? Real life happens sometimes, but how much slack does your nh give?

I've been in a nh that never kicked anyone out, I didn't last long there. I've been in one that kicked you out, no questions asked, don't care, bye bye if you missed one task, or your ending points were too low (which is a valid reason).

Which leads to me to my present nh where we have 3 people for 3 weeks now that have not completed their tasks nor opted out. One week, ok understandable. All were told to finish or opt out for the next time. Same thing the 2nd time. Now it's been 3 weeks and the leader is kicking them. I say it's past time.

The problem is people become too friendly and take advantage of it.

I've had this problem once earlier in 2016, but during the derby from May 17 to May 22, one of my opted-in neighborhood members did 0/9 tasks with zero points. Also, their roadside shop stayed the same, telling that the person is inactive. I haven't kicked out this person yet but I'm giving one more week to fix the issue. Then it is a kick from the neighborhood (as 3 weeks have passed without any points scored or tasks taken). For the earlier derby, the person in that derby did opt out, but that was only after demotion.

Originally Posted by FrozenTundra

Did you try sending the leader a pm through the forum? I've been removing opted out players after checking with people in other time zones to see if they have seen the player. The system automatically opting people out after 3 weeks is helpful for that reason. I'm one of the laid back hood leaders but only want active farms. If I found out I had removed an active player who opted out, I'd let them back in.

I have not seen something that states this. Can anyone provide a link if possible?

it happen to me recently...yes, they should boot us after derby end so we get the rewards and then ask to leave.
it win-win situation...

yes.. jesse.. i am tired of hoods that use great players.. for their advantage.. im so glad your back with yr REAL FRIENDS AND CLEAN, NICE, AND DECENT HUMAN BEINGS!!! Yr such a great player and we have always valued you.. GLAD TO HAVE YOU WITH US..NH BIRD BRAIN... BLUE BACKGROUND GREEN PIG... WE VALUE OUR TEAMMEATES!!!

We have had players in our hood that have been nicely asked to opt out of the derby if they were unable to complete tasks. We have told them that we will still help their farms, we just don't want them to hurt our derby scores. We noticed that for three derbies they would take tasks, then either fail them or trash them, not make any efforts to finish them. We were consistently placing in the top 5 in champions league.

They wouldn't respond, however if there were goodies announced in the shops they would shop and not once acknowledge with a thank you. When asked to opt out they would ignore the request even though they were clearly playing. They had no problems saying help my boat, so we do know that the chat feature was turned on. They got the boot. It's unfortunate to do so, as our current neighborhood is one that migrated from an old neighborhood that our leader abandoned. This current neighborhood has played together for over 3 years. This player was removed from the old neighborhood a year ago for the same reasons.

When the decision is made to remove a player it is a group decision, but it's still sad. At the end of the day it's only a game.